Are We A Mega Church?
Acts 4:32-37
We’re continuing our series through the book of Acts this morning in the series I’ve entitled, “The Church on Mission.” My sermon title this morning is a question – Are We A Mega Church? Now according to the definition of a mega church that’s used by church growth specialists and missiologists, the answer would be an obvious “no.” A mega church is considered as such if they have an average weekly worship attendance of 2,000 or more. So by that definition we are clearly not a mega church. In fact, there are only a half dozen or so megachurches in the greater Chattanooga area.
But that’s not the definition we’re going to use this morning. We’re going to use a definition from our text today to answer the question “Are We A Mega Church?”
I’ve had the honor of serving in full-time, part-time and volunteer staff positions at six different churches in my ministry. These churches include a church plant that my family started in our home with about a dozen people meeting every Sunday to a church with over 5,000 members. Another church I served in had a $1M pipe organ that could blow your hair back; in our house church I led music from my $200 Casio keyboard.
Churches come in all shapes and sizes. Some church buildings are square, some are circles; some are rectangle like ours, and others are well – I’m not sure what you’d call this.
Some churches are traditional and haven’t changed since 1953; some are very modern and look more like a rock concert. Some are high-brow liturgical, some are low-brow country and western.
But the shape of a church, the style of the church, and certainly not the size of the church – none of those things are what define a mega church according to the passage we'll be looking at today.
As we approach this passage at the end of Acts 4, it's immediately after the church had a prayer meeting where they passionately lifted their hearts together to the Lord and prayed for boldness. Luke describes the result of that prayer - the place in which they were praying was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word with boldness. The experience was very similar to the day of Pentecost. There was a sensory manifestation of the power of God, they were filled with the Spirit and they all spoke the word of God with boldness.
Then if you'll remember in Acts 2, after the Pentecost event and Peter's sermon, Luke puts in this parenthetical paragraph there as well to describe the mindset, the culture/devotion of that early church. If you'll remember Acts 2:42: And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42
Now here in Acts 4 after the next outpouring of God's Spirit in power upon the church, Luke again describes the ongoing culture and life of the church. And what we discover is they are indeed a mega church. Look at Acts 4 beginning in verse 32:
32Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Now the reason I say this is a mega church comes down to verse 33. Look at verse 33 again: And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all
One word is repeated in that verse - the English word is "great." Circle that word "great" on your outline or in your Bible. Guess what the Greek word is for that - MEGA! There was MEGA power and MEGA grace upon this church. They were the first MEGA church, you follow me?
What are some things we see in this mega church and how can we be a mega church. Five things to note this morning. First of all...
I. The Guiding PRINCIPLE
32Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul...
This simple statement tells us that the believers shared a deep inner bond that joined them spiritually and emotionally. The text says they were one “in heart and soul.” That's KARDIA and PSUCHE in Greek. KARDIA - from which we get cardiac or cardiology which have to do with your heart; and PSUCHE from which we get psyche or psychology which have to do with your mind, will and emotions. Heart and soul.
Now your heart is the spiritual aspect of your existence. Your heart - sometimes referred to as your spirit - it is the wellspring of your being; it's the central place to which God relates to you spiritually. The heart is the core of your being. It's the unconscious, inarticulate part of yourself.
Have you ever been somewhere, maybe a gas station or grocery store and you pass by or briefly meet a complete stranger and before you say a word you can sense there is a spiritual union between the two of you - you've both been born again by the power of God's Spirit. And so you don't have a dead, stony heart - you've got an alive heart. You aren't dead spiritually but you're alive spiritually and you connect on a heart, spiritual level.
That's what's happening in this church - they were of one heart. There was a kardiac oneness in the depth of their personality; their hearts pulsated and beat together. They were of one heart.
The text also says they were of 1 soul. Whereas your heart is the spiritual aspect of your being, your soul is the mental, emotional and volitional aspect of your being. The heart is the unconscious, inarticulate & spiritual part of who you are, your soul is the conscious you, the articulate you. It's how you think, how you feel, how you decide. And there was a oneness in their psyche, in their soul. They thought the same thoughts. Their spiritual, heart-rooted oneness was bubbling up into a oneness in thought.
If anyone has ever been a soul-brother, in this church they were soul-brothers. Turn to your neighbor and say, "You my soul brother!"
In this church there was the most profound unity that the world had ever seen. Now the church - if you'll remember - was made up of all kinds of different people. They were a magnificently diverse church. Different races, different languages, different nationalities, different socio-economic backgrounds, different opinions, different likes and dislikes. Unity does not mean uniformity. But yet they were of one heart and soul. They were all tuned to the same standard, the standard of Jesus.
That's how John put it in 1 John: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. 1 John 1:7 This is a true MEGA church - they were of one heart and one soul. That's the GUIDING PRINCIPLE. Notice this secondly...
II. The Compelling PROOF
The second half of verse 32 describes the compelling proof that they indeed were of one heart and soul: and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. Luke here moves from the invisible to the visible; From the unseen to the seen.
In the early church if you had a need—and I had something that could meet that need—what was mine was yours. And what was yours was mine—if I truly needed it. They had everything in common.
Now let's talk about what that DOESN'T mean. Some people look at this description of the early church and see this as an early form of Communism. People have even tried to pull from this text certain Marxist ideas. You may have heard of the famous statement Karl Marx used to summarize his communist philosophy: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." That was the Marxist slogan. In fact there is a verse here in Acts that is similar to that idea in Acts 11:29 - So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. Acts 11:29
Now there's a couple reasons we know this was not an early form of communism. First, everyone maintained personal property rights. This was not an abolishment of personal property. Secondly, the selling of their possessions was not by force or coercion but rather it was free and voluntary. The apostles were not authoritarian dictators who forced people to sell their possessions and redistribute their wealth but rather, this was the Spirit of God moving in the hearts of members of the church who could not imagine seeing brothers or sisters in need while they had a surplus. So they voluntarily sold their possessions.
The church had a wonderful communal spirit, but a communal spirit is much different than a state-enforced communism. But that expression is still striking – they had everything in common. The phrase means that the early church exhibited a radical generosity. And that radical generosity was proof of the guiding principle – they were of one heart and soul. That leads to the third aspect of this mega church and that is…
III. The Explosive POWER
Look again at verse 33: And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
The root word for power is the root word for dynamite. There was dunamis, dynamic, explosive power. And the dynamic MEGA power was in relation to the preaching of the apostles as they were giving testimony to the resurrection of Jesus. Now remember, they were just told by the Sanhedrin not to preach in the name of Jesus anymore. Peter and John defiantly said, “We can NOT but speak of what we've seen and heard.” They prayed for boldness and God answered that request, empowering them by the Holy Spirit and there was MEGA power in their preaching.
As I’ve noted before, the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus was the central message of the apostles and so it must be the central message of our preaching today. Additionally, the preaching of the resurrection was very offensive to the Jewish authorities. Yet, they never compromised the message though it may be offensive. Oh that preachers today would stand firm on the gospel message and not strip it of its power by diluting it.
They had MEGA power, but they also had MEGA grace. The early church was overflowing with grace from God. And it is because of the grace of God upon their lives that God used them in such powerful ways. God’s favor was resting upon them. And here’s the takeaway for us: A church that is characterized by loving unity, sacrificial care and evangelistic zeal is a church that God puts his mark of approval upon. And that mark of approval is the lavishing of his grace upon them. They had MEGA grace.
Illustration: Every morning I have the same routine. I get up around 5:30, go into the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. Our coffee maker is across the kitchen from our sink, so I take the carafe to the sink, rinse it out, and fill it up. Now it’s a 12-cup pot but I always fill it up more than to the 12-cup line. I fill it all the way to the top. And I carefully walk across the kitchen to the coffee maker and pour the water in. 95% of the time I spill a little water on the floor as I’m carrying it to the coffee maker. And then guess what, on the back of the coffee maker there’s a slit at the back so that if you overfill the coffee maker, water runs out the back onto your countertop. And every morning, I overfill it and water runs out of the back. And so every morning I have to get the sponge and clean up the water that’s been spilled. Why do I do that? Because I drink a lot of coffee and I want to make the maximum amount every day.
I tell you that to illustrate the nature of this church. This church was a mega church because it was overflowing with grace. If you touch them, grace would spill out. They were filled up to the rim with grace! They were like a saturated sponge, you touch them and grace just pours out of them.
Listen – that’s a true mega church. Mega power and mega grace. But notice what that mega power and mega grace resulted in…
IV. The Generous PRACTICE
Look again at verses 34-35 at how the Mega grace that overflowed in their lives spilled out in tremendous generosity: 34There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
There are three groups in these two verses. There are the rich, defined as anyone who owned anything. There are the apostles, the designated spiritual leaders. There are the needy, defined as those too poor to own houses or lands. When the rich saw that certain believers had needs, they voluntarily sold some land or houses and brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles. The apostles then distributed it to the various needy believers in the congregation. This simple plan ensured that there would be no poverty in the church.
Now here's what's interesting: they were in essence fulfilling what the ideal was for the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 15:4, Looking ahead to when the people of Israel would enter the promised Land. But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess. Deuteronomy 15:4
That was the ideal, that when the people of Israel would get into the promised land and there would be such blessing from God and such sharing among God’s people that there would be no poor among them. Now they were sinners and they didn’t obey all the commands and all the jubilee laws so it didn’t happen the way it was meant to be, but now here, in the early church they are beginning to show that Promised Land ideal. It’s a picture of the kingdom breaking in.
What is the Kingdom of God? That’s a pretty important concept in the Bible – what is the kingdom of God? The Kingdom is God’s reign and rule. The easiest way to think of it is the Kingdom breaking in here on earth, it’s a bit of heaven on earth. In heaven whatever God’s will decrees, just as his will desires – it will be done. In heaven there’s no want or need, there’s no unrepentant sinners, there’s no lack – that’s heaven. And the church is an outpost of the kingdom, we’re an embassy. We represent our kingdom in this foreign kingdom that we reside in. We’re not ultimately citizens of this world, we’re citizens of heaven. And we’re here on earth to advance the interests of our king. We’re here to recognize him and to live by his rules.
The church is supposed to be a little bit of heaven breaking in on earth. That’s why Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And one of the ways we see the Kingdom of God on earth is when members of Christ’s church take care of each other. In heaven there’s no suffering and so heaven on earth is we try to relieve people’s suffering. In heaven there’s no poverty so on earth we try to mitigate that poverty and provide for each other’s needs so there’s a little bit of heaven encircled at 23 Lilac Avenue, Chattanooga, TN.
The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love, and the Kingdom manifest among us is God’s love being manifested among us. That’s what John is saying in 1 John 3: 16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:16-18
John is saying how can you say that you love one another but yet you won’t give to one another. I’ve heard some say, “Well, God just looks at my heart and he knows my heart.” John connects our sacrificial giving to God’s sacrificial giving. What if God loved like that. What if God said, “I love the world so much that I’m willing to give my only son.” Well, God are you going to? “Oh it doesn’t matter if I’m going to – I’m willing to.” God’s love is of no value to us if he’s willing to give up his only son for us but never does. In the same way, how can we say we love others if we only say we’re WILLING to sacrifice for them but we never actually do? John questions whether or not God’s love actually abides in you at all.
People have also said, “Well God loves a cheerful giver, and I’m not cheerful about giving so I won’t give until I get happy about it. No! You give obediently and wait for God to make you cheerful about it.
This generous practice of the richer selling possessions to liquidate assets in order to assist those who were needy is simply a natural outplaying of the previous verses: They were of one heart and soul; their disposition was that they didn’t see anything as belonging to themselves but they shared all things in common; and they were overflowing with mega-grace. This generous practice was an outplaying of those things. They were united together and therefore they had all things in common – they were covenanted together by the work of Jesus on the cross.
Apply the opposite of this to a marriage covenant. Wouldn’t you think it strange if in a marriage every possession was divided up between the two marriage partners? Let’s say you and your spouse are married, you enter into that God ordained covenant together, you return from your honeymoon and are at home the first morning of your marriage together. You go to the drawer and grab a spoon with which you might eat your frosted flakes and your spouse says, “hey, that’s my spoon. Don’t you remember I got that with a gift card to Target from my mom. You need to find your own spoon.”
That evening you sit down to watch TV together and your spouse says, “Hey, that’s my couch, you need to find somewhere else to sit.” We would say that is tremendously unhealthy. When you get married you're family now, you’re one flesh, you’re covenanted together.
The same is true in the church – we’re one in heart and soul; we’re covenanted together. no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And that mentality coupled with the mega grace played out in the generous practice we see described in verses 34-35. Then Luke concludes this section with this fifth thing to notice…
V. The Encouraging PATTERN
Luke gives us an example, a pattern, of this generous practice they enjoyed in one whom the apostles referred to as Barnabas: 36Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
This is Luke’s introduction of Barnabas to us. Luke mentions Barnabas several times throughout the book as we’ll see as we make our way through the book of Acts. In chapter 9 we will see him again as the first person and the only advocate of this new convert Saul, who is now known as Paul. Everyone is scared of Paul and Barnabas comes alongside him – the son of encouragement.
Then you see him again in chapter 11 where he’s the shepherd who comes alongside the Gentile converts. Jews don’t associate with Gentiles, but Barnabas, you’re good with strangers, why don’t you go up to them and be the pastor in Antioch.
Then he’s entrusted with the relief money from the Christians in Antioch to be taken down to Jerusalem because he is of trustworthy character. And then we meet him as the partner of Paul on the first missionary journey.
And then we see him opposing Paul and standing up for John Mark. Paul sees John Mark as unworthy to be a part of the missionary team because he left on the last missionary journey, so Barnabas says, “Give him a break, he’s a new man.” Paul says, “absolutely not” so they split and go in 2 different directions. That’s the man Barnabas. He’s lovable, kind, full of integrity, trustworthy. His encouragement and generosity were legendary among the early church.
But where did all of that begin? It begins right here. He’s laying money down and picking people up. That’s Barnabas. He says, “I own this field, but I don’t need this field – not as bad as I need to see these poor people in the church cared for.” So he sells the field and lays the money at the apostles’ feet.
That phrase is used twice in this passage “laid at the apostles’ feet.” Now we don’t know if they literally took the money and laid it at their feet or if this was an idiom or colloquialism that meant we entrusted it to their charge; we give the rights of distribution of these funds to the spiritual authority God has placed over us.
This is how this early church operated, the first mega church.
So What?
How do we apply this to our lives? What is the “so what” take away for us? Here’s the idea I want us to come around by way of application. As we move closer to becoming a mega church we will experience mega power and mega grace. What will that look like for us: As our lives are increasingly grace-filled we will see a tightening in our attachment to each other and a loosening in our attachment to possessions.
This principle comes right out verse 32: Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own.
We are tightened in our love for people and loosened in our love for things. The transforming power of the grace of Jesus in a TRUE mega church is freedom from the attachment to stuff and a freedom to the attachment to people. But our culture's relation to money and possessions today could not be described as freedom – it could best be described as slavery. We are enslaved to the creditor, we are enslaved to the bank, we are enslaved to get the overtime hours or the second job because we are enslaved to possessions. Doesn’t it sound gloriously liberating to be free from possessions and free to love people? That’s a true, legitimate mega church!
Illustration: Watch and Keys. I’d like you to take off your watch and place it in front of you. Now take your keys and place them next to your watch. Consider what your watch and your keys represent. Your watch keeps track of time, which measures the passing of your life. One day time will stop for you because your life itself is a temporary gift from God. What are you doing with the time you have been given?
Pick up your keys and look at them. You’ve probably got keys to your car, your home, and your office. Those keys represent your most precious material possessions. One day you will surrender control of your possessions to someone else. What are you doing with your earthly treasure?
Do you really believe in Jesus? If you do, it will change the way you view your time and your treasure. So many of us waste our years trying to hold what we can’t keep anyway.
No one lives forever. The only choice we get is what we do with what we have been given. That choice matters forever. Everything else passes away. There’s coming a day when the watch will stop, when your life is over. There’s coming a day when all you own will belong to someone else.
Last Thought: Will you release your grip on that which is TEMPORARY and live for that which is ETERNAL?
